Hegseth's 'Stupid Rules of Engagement' Line and What ROE Actually Do
www.military.com

... At a Pentagon briefing on March 2, 2026, War Secretary Pete Hegseth used blunt language about how the United States would fight, saying there would be "no stupid rules of engagement," "no politically correct wars," and "no nation-building quagmire."

Those remarks became a flashpoint because rules of engagement, or ROE, are not "vibes" or slogans. They are a formal control system that ties tactical force decisions to strategy, law, and escalation management. Human Rights Watch responded the same day by warning that dismissing ROE in public can read as minimizing legal constraints that exist to protect civilians and keep operations compliant with the laws of war.

What Rules Of Engagement Are In U.S. Practice

In U.S. doctrine, ROE start with standing baseline rules and then get tailored by commanders for a mission, geography, and threat picture. The Joint Staff's Standing Rules of Engagement and Standing Rules for the Use of Force (CJCSI 3121.01B) are the backbone reference that describes how U.S. forces think about self defense, hostile act, hostile intent, and the conditions for using force. ...

Todd Blanche's past hangs over him as top DOJ official on Epstein case (July 2025)
www.npr.org

... In June 2024, Blanche appeared as a guest on Markus' podcast, "For The Defense."

"Everybody knows who Todd is," Markus says in the opening moments of the episode. "And he's the first guest on 'For The Defense' to appear twice, so welcome to the show, Todd."

The two discussed Blanche's legal work for Trump, including at his criminal trial in New York where he was convicted on 34 counts in a hush money case.

Toward the end of the episode, Blanche calls Markus a friend and they joke about him becoming the show's first three-peat guest. ...

Zelenskyy to Trump: Put more pressure on Putin, 'not on me'
www.politico.eu

... Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants Donald Trump to turn up the heat on Vladimir Putin " and stop piling pressure on him to agree to a truce after more than four years of war. ...

Deposition
www.lawfirm.com

... A deposition is an out-of-court witness testimony recorded by a certified court reporter or videographer. Depositions are frequently used in litigation in the United States in both civil lawsuits and criminal cases. Learn about the purpose of a deposition, what happens during a deposition, and how to prepare for one. ...

Why DOJ Hasn't Charged Anyone Else From the Epstein Files
www.politico.com

... The release of the Epstein files was supposed to quell the controversy over whether the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein committed child sex crimes with a host of wealthy, prominent men. But more than a month after the release, something like the opposite has happened.

A variety of public figures in the U.S. have incurred professional and reputational consequences as a result of socializing with Epstein after his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution with a minor. So far, however, none of these people have been credibly accused of any criminal wrongdoing or being aware of Epstein's subsequent child sex trafficking.

In Europe, things are only slightly different. Law enforcement authorities across the continent have opened investigations into prominent political figures concerning their dealings with Epstein, but thus far, those investigations appear to concern alleged political misconduct " like sharing confidential government information with Epstein or receiving gifts from him " not sex crimes.

Meanwhile, as entirely new conspiracy theories have begun to flourish, pretty much no one in America is happy -- not the victims who were insulted by Attorney General Pam Bondi during her latest daylong series of outbursts on Capitol Hill;

not President Donald Trump, who effectively created this mess by fueling Epstein conspiracies as a presidential candidate and who remains the subject of intense scrutiny based on unverified allegations against him in the documents that he has strenuously denied;

not the American public, most of whom believe that the government is still hiding information;

and not the lawmakers who drafted and ultimately passed the law requiring disclosures with the near-unanimous consent of their colleagues in both houses of Congress.

In a remarkable bipartisan rebuke, the House Oversight Committee voted last week to subpoena Bondi to testify with five Republicans joining the Democrats on the committee over the objection of Chair James Comer (R-Ky.). ...

Can the US military sustain a long war in Iran?
www.dw.com

...The math of the Iran war

Since the beginning of the conflict, the US, Israel, and Iran have unleashed a barrage of strikes across the region. According to the US Central Command (CENTCOM), the US hit more than 3,000 targets in Iran in the first seven days.

In return, Iran has launched thousands of Shahed-136 drones and hundreds of missiles at US targets across the region.

This is where the math gets uncomfortable.

Iran's Shahed drones cost between $20,000 and $50,000 (about 43,000) to produce. There are various ways the US and allies have been defending against them, but none are cheap. Fighter jets armed with AIM-9 missiles are $450,000 a shot, plus the $40,000 per hour just to operate the plane.

"The cost of operating the fighter for an hour is equivalent to the cost of a Shahed," said Grieco, "It's not efficient. It's not a favorable cost exchange."

She argued the US should have learned from Ukraine, which has found cheaper methods, such as interceptor drones that cost less than the Shaheds. "The United States has tested [that technology], it just hasn't purchased it in sufficient numbers," said Grieco.

The far more expensive Patriot defense missiles (costing around $3 million per missile) are reserved for intercepting Iran's ballistic missiles, and it is here that concerns about stockpiles arise. Mark Cancian, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, estimates that stocks are being used up fast.

"At the beginning, I think there were about 1,000 Patriots and I think we've chewed into that inventory quite a bit now," he said. He estimated that 200-300 Patriot missiles have already been used.

High-grade weapons like this take time to build. Lockheed Martin delivered just 620 PAC-3 interceptors in all of 2025. "If you went to the company today and said I want to buy one more Patriot, it would take at least two years for that Patriot to show up," said Cancian.

For shorter-range weapons such as bombs, JDAM kits and Hellfire missiles the picture is different. "Militarily, I think we could sustain it for a very long time. You know, we have the ground munitions to do that," said Cancian. ...

[see the article for a map of strikes]

Tracing the US Military's Learning Curve on Fighting Iran's Drones
www.military.com

... The Iran war quickly tested America's ability to combat the swarms of cheap drones that have become a staple of the modern battlefield after Ukraine and Russia demonstrated how effective they could be.

The Islamic Republic launched so many drones across the region at once that some slipped through the defenses, including a strike that killed six U.S. soldiers at an operations center in Kuwait.

Experts and defense leaders stress that the U.S. military has been able to shoot down the majority of Iran's drones and take out much of its drone capabilities. But critics said too often missiles that cost millions of dollars were used to down small drones that cost tens of thousands.

The U.S. is bringing an anti-drone system to the Middle East that has been tested in Ukraine, which had proposed a deal with the U.S. last year to offer its drone expertise. Such an agreement is yet to be made, and American forces are facing a steep learning curve as they scramble to deploy more cost-efficient defenses against Iran's Shahed drones, which fly low and buzz like mopeds before smashing into their targets. ...

Here's what to know about Iran's drones and efforts by the U.S. to shoot them down: ...

en.wikipedia.org

... Julie Knipe Brown (born 1961) is an American investigative journalist with the Miami Herald best known for pursuing the sex trafficking story surrounding Jeffrey Epstein, who in 2008 was allowed to plead guilty to two state-level prostitution offenses.[1][2] She is the recipient of several awards including two George Polk Awards for Justice Reporting.[3]

Brown was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2020.[4] ...

Investigation into Jeffrey Epstein

Brown has been credited with re-opening the Jeffrey Epstein sexual abuse case with a series of reports published in November 2018.[9][10][11] She began investigating Epstein in early 2017 and persisted in uncovering facts about the large number of accusers and the pressure campaign to silence them.[12][13] Brown uncovered 80 potential victims (as young as 13 and 14 years old when the abuse occurred) and documented the eight individuals who agreed to tell their stories.[13]

In 2008, Epstein had been allowed to plead guilty to only two state-level prostitution offenses, even though sex with underage girls is legally rape. The secret deal that then-US Attorney Alex Acosta struck with Epstein made the federal sex trafficking charges disappear, shut down an FBI probe that might have uncovered dozens of victims and granted immunity to any possible co-conspirators, a clause that protected powerful men.[2] Brown's 2018 reporting on the deal sparked criticism of Acosta, who by then had become the United States secretary of labor, and there was pressure for him to resign. He eventually resigned after Epstein was arrested and charged in July 2019.[14] ...